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New Philippine Leader Orders Peace Talks With MILF And Others
MANILA, Jan 22 (News Agencies) - Philippine President Gloria Arroyo filled key cabinet positions and ordered aides to resume peace talks with armed opposition groups Monday as criminal proceedings began against her ousted predecessor Joseph Estrada.
Despite fears that Estrada might mount a legal challenge against his removal from office by a military-backed uprising over the weekend, Manila stock prices surged and more governments recognized Southeast Asia's newest national leader.
"We must stand together. We must heal the nation," Arroyo said after reporting for work at Malacanang president palace.
Her day began with a solemn flag-raising and military honors from elite presidential guards.
"I have no grandiose dreams to be a great president, but I want to be a good president. Help me become a good president," said Arroyo, who lived at the palace as a teenager when her late father Diosdado Macapagal was president in the early 1960s.
Estrada, meanwhile, remained cloistered at a suburban mansion as he prepared to defend himself from criminal charges resulting from allegations that he illegally amassed at least $60 million after just 30 months in office.
The Supreme Court declared the presidency vacant on Saturday after the military and most of the cabinet withdrew support for Estrada following the breakdown of his impeachment trial at the senate.
Arroyo, who has rejected an outright amnesty for Estrada, assured the country's civil service there will be no mass purge among their ranks, but Estrada and his immediate circle were not spared.
Anti-corruption investigators announced they were issuing subpoenas to Estrada, members of his family and alleged business cronies. They were ordered to respond within 10 days and explain why they should not be criminally charged.
One of the charges being studied against Estrada is economic plunder, an offense punishable by death, but officials are not expected to press for the full penalty.
The respondents were also put on an "immigration watchlist," which means judicial authorities will be alerted if they try to leave the country.
Arroyo met military and police leaders and underscored the need for continuity by reappointing Estrada's defense secretary Orlando Mercado. Armed forces chief of staff General Angelo Reyes, who defected to the opposition along with Mercado, was also retained.
Retired general Renato de Villa, a former defense secretary and armed forces chief, was named executive secretary - a post roughly equivalent to prime minister.
De Villa, acting on Arroyo's orders, said government peace negotiating teams would be reconstituted to hold talks with the Muslim Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).
Both groups largely operate in the countryside and are not seen as threats to the national government, although the MILF has been linked to deadly bombings in Manila.
In the Makati financial district, the business community issued its own salute by pushing the Philippine Stock Exchange composite index up 17.6%, or 255.13 points, to close at 1,708.06.
The new president, who has a doctorate in economics and served as a trade and industry undersecretary, is seen as a business-friendly figure.
The Philippine peso, which hit a record low of 55.75 last week during a standoff between pro- and anti-Estrada forces, spiked to 46 per dollar before settling at 49.300 to the dollar, down from 47.500 the previous trading day.
On the other side of Manila, Estrada maintained silence and stayed in seclusion, keeping the country guessing about his next move.
Senate President Aquilino Pimentel disclosed that he received a letter Monday dated January 20th in which the ousted leader called Arroyo the "acting president." Pimentel said Estrada might be laying the basis for a legal challenge.
Before his downfall, Estrada was being tried by the Senate on charges of taking bribes from illegal gambling syndicates, siphoning off government funds and protecting cronies implicated in illegal activities.
The suppression of crucial evidence by Estrada's senator allies triggered outrage which blossomed into a non-violent uprising that brought down Estrada in five days.
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